Pulse2 Technology and Social Media News » Kiwi Camara

Jammie Thomas Now Only Has To Pay $54,000 For KaZaA Copyright Infringement Case

Amit Chowdhry — Tue, 26 Jul 2011 11:52:46 +0000

Jammie Thomas-Rasset is known as the first U.S. resident to have file sharing lawsuits go to trial and verdict. Although she lied in her testimony and refused to accept responsibility for her actions, federal judge Michael Davis decided that the $1.5 million award fined against her was unconstitutional. The new amount is cut down to $54,000, or $2,250 per song that she was caught sharing on KaZaA.

There is no doubt that a multimillion dollar penalty is overkill to deter a private individual from obtaining free songs online… Although Thomas-Rasset played a role in the web of online piracy, she played a minuscule role… It cannot be that she must pay the damages caused by millions of individuals because she was one of two users caught, sued, and subjected to a jury trial… [Joel Tenenbaum in Massachusetts was the other.] This award constitutes the maximum amount a jury could award, consistent with the due process clause.

An RIAA spokesperson said that they disagree with the decision and is considering make other steps. Jammie Thomas’ lawyer Kiwi Camara said that he is sure that the recording industry will appeal, but they will file a cross-appeal too.

[Ars Technica]

The Lawyers Of Jammie Thomas Suing Scribd Over Copyright Infringement

Amit Chowdhry — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 03:21:10 +0000

Fresh from losing a battle against the music industry causing Jammie Thomas-Rasset to be liable for paying $1.9 million in copyright infringement, lawyers Joe Sibley and Kiwi Camara has decided to sue Scribd. Scribd has “built a technology that’s broken barriers to copyright infringement on a global scale and in the process have also built one of the largest readerships in the world,” according to the two attorneys. “The company shamelessly profits from the stolen copyrighted works of innumerable authors.”

It is interesting to note that in Camara and Sibley’s last trial, they were defending a client from copyright infringement and now they are pursuing after a company that violates copyright. Camara and Sibley were interviewed back in July about whether they would ever defend copyright and they said yes assuming that they believe in the issue. The lawsuit was filed by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas. Plaintiff Elaine Scott said that she found an unauthorized copy of her book “Stocks and Bonds: Profits and Losses, A Quick Look at Financial Markets” on the website. Scribd prides themselves as being the “YouTube for documents.”

Scribd said that they remove content when required by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. Scribd has built an automated filtering system that prevents unauthorized materials from being published too. “The West Coast technology industry has produced a number of start-up firms premised on the notion that commercial copyright infringement is not illegal, unless and until the injured party discovers and complains of the infringing activity, and (the) infringer fails to respond to such complaints,” states the complaint written by the lawyers.

Jammie Thomas Found Liable For Copyright Infringement With $1.92 Million Penalty

Amit Chowdhry — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 17:08:33 +0000

Jammie Thomas of Minnesota was found liable for 24 acts of copyright infringement with damages worth $1.92 million. Jammie had a new trial and a new lawyer after she was unable to pay her previous lawyer. The copyright material belonged to four major record labels.

Kiwi Camara was Thomas’ lawyer in the case and he was angry when he found out there was an $80,000 per song damage awarded to the labels. He believed that $750 per song was more reasonable. Thomas was shocked by the verdict but believed the jury did their job.

“I’m not going to hold it against them.” added Thomas but said that the recording industry probably won’t end up getting the money. ”Good luck trying to get it from me… it’s like squeezing blood from a turnip.”

However RIAA spokesperson Cara Duckworth said that the recording industry was willing to settle on the case. A proposed settlement has not yet been made. Camara and Harvard professor Charles Nesson still plan on filing a class-action lawsuit against the RIAA.

[via Ars Technica]

Lawyer and Harvard Professor Combine Forces To File Class Action Lawsuit Against The RIAA

Amit Chowdhry — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 19:23:26 +0000

There are currently two high profile RIAA lawsuits taking place. One of them involves a Harvard professor and the other involves Jammie Thomas-Rasset. Now the lawyers in both cases are forming a partnership to file a class-action lawsuit against the RIAA to get back the $100 million that they claim the recording industry stole.

Kiwi Camara represents Jammie Thomas-Rasset in a lawsuit that the RIAA filed against her. There is a retrial taking place in Minnesota next week. Harvard Law professor Charles Nesson is representing Boston student Joel Tenenbaum in an RIAA trial as well. Kiwi and Charles are the ones getting together to file the $100 million class action lawsuit against the RIAA.

Camara did an interview with Ars Technica earlier this week and revealed two pieces of evidence that will help his case. MediaSentry was hired by the RIAA to track down the IP address of those who share files. Camara is arguing that MediaSentry is not licensed as a private investigator in Minnesota. This makes them running an illegal “pen register” and their evidence should be barred.

Another approach that Camara is considering is making the RIAA prove that they own the copyrights in question. If the RIAA or MediaSentry cannot prove any of the above scenarios, then the cases will fall apart for them. Camara’s approach is quite unorthodox.

Camara said that the RIAA basically committed a “technical screw-up” when it came to claiming the proper copyright ownership. The RIAA lawyers provided courts with “true and correct” copies of the evidence, but they were not “certified copies” required by federal rules of evidence.

The RIAA asked the judge to take judicial notice for these claims, but the judge refused. The recording industry will now have a limited amount of time to file for the certified copies. Camara already has rebuttals in mind just in case the RIAA is able to get all of the certified copies necessary for the case.

More news on the trial as it develops. Kudos to Ars Technica for their thorough coverage of this case.

[via Ars Technica]